Meteor Showers

Thanks for the heads up!
Weather looks really promising...

There is also a slim chance of an Aurora tonight. Conditions are similar to the St Patrick's day auroras that were photographed from as far South as the Brecon Beacons (cracking piccy shared here on TP) and the glow was even photographed from Exmoor.
Keep an eye on http://spaceweather.com/
 
This is going to sound a bit glib but it can work... Select exposure values that result in stars being how you'd like them rendered (pinpoints or trails), point the camera at the sky and keep firing. If you're going for star rails, having the Pole star in shot gives a centre to the arcs of trail but otherwise, having a recognisable constellation in shot works well even if you don't get any meteors in the shot! If there's any chance of an Aurora, keep aiming North to give any chance of catching it. Wide angles and fast apertures help boost the chance of catching a meteor.

Good luck!
 
DuncanDisorderly said:
At the mo visibility is not great.
Clear skies but I can barely make out the Milky Way, and that's from the top of the Mendip Hills.
Outside for 5 mins and saw nothing.
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You shouldn't expect to see anything.

The peak ZHR for the Lyrids is about 18 meteors per hour. But last night probably wasn't the peak, the radiant wasn't overhead, and the sky from the Mendips isn't truly dark. And you can't necessarily scan the whole 360 degrees of the sky all the time.

Check out this source for a method of estimating what you'll actually see: https://darkskydiary.wordpress.com/2015/04/18/lyrids-meteor-shower-2015/

I reckon about 3-5 meteors per hour would be about right, at tonight's peak, from a reasonably dark location. It's not much of a cosmic fireworks display, to be honest.
 
Depends what you mean by "media hype". This is one of the best showers of the spring, and sure, it doesn't show as many shooting stars as the big three meteor showers, but it should still be impressive.

As someone already pointed out my blog post https://darkskydiary.wordpress.com/2015/04/18/lyrids-meteor-shower-2015/ details how many you'll see, but in general most people with suburban light pollution levels could see 4-5 per hour if they're outside during the peak with clear unobstructed skies. Head somewhere a bit darker and the levels increase.

There's also a chance that this year (like happened in 1982) we'll get a dramatic increase in activity. Back in 1982 rates went up by a factor of 5 briefly.

So you've got to take the chance and put yourselves in the best position to see them. You've got to be opportunists. The only sure fire way of not seeing anything is by not even trying.

Happy meteorwatching everyone.
 
I've been out 3 of the last 4 nights and seen more meteors than I'm used to- 6-8 an hour, I'd guess. As usual, though, none of them made it through to my images. Part of that is just down to the luck of the direction my camera is pointing, the rest is because whilst meteors appear bright, they also move incredibly fast so their presence often goes unrecorded.

Best chance of capturing one is by selecting a high ISO and wide aperture and adjusting shutter speed to control the ambient light.

Clear down south at the moment, good luck if anyone's venturing out.
 
I had an hour last night and managed to get this image, I'm guessing its a meteor ;)

For some reason I'm having trouble with flickr and can only post the link :banghead: but happy if someone could post the image for me, cheers :)

Edit-sorted

Shooting star?....... by Phil D 245, on Flickr
 
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Hmmm. Meteors typically are more teardrop in appearance rather than the fairly symmetrical taper you've caught. Don't want to pee on your bonfire but it looks like you might have caught an iridium flare- essentially that's sunlight reflecting off a satellite. I would have expected slightly longer trails at each end of the flare, though.

You might get a more conclusive result by cross-referencing the time & location of your shot with either a) the UK Meteor Network or b) the iridium flare tracker.
 
AndWhyNot said:
Don't want to pee on your bonfire but it looks like you might have caught an iridium flare
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I agree. It does look like an Iridium flare.

They're rarer than meteors though. You only get a few of them per day.
 
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AndWhyNot said:
Hmmm. Meteors typically are more teardrop in appearance rather than the fairly symmetrical taper you've caught. Don't want to pee on your bonfire but it looks like you might have caught an iridium flare- essentially that's sunlight reflecting off a satellite. I would have expected slightly longer trails at each end of the flare, though.

You might get a more conclusive result by cross-referencing the time & location of your shot with either a) the UK Meteor Network or b) the iridium flare tracker.
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Cheers Andrew, definitely not peeing on mi fire :D I was just presuming it was a meteor :) I've no problem recognising satellites in the night sky but do have to confess to not knowing of iridium flares :confused:

I've had a quick look at the two site and don't think I can't cross reference it with the iridium flare tracker but I might be reading it wrong :rolleyes:

I found this though on the uk meteor network, looks like my image and they seem to think its a meteor but they could be wrong too :D

https://BANNED/LividLFC/status/591062297755447296/photo/1


StewartR said:
I agree. It does look like an Iridium flare.

They're rarer than meteors though. You only get a few of them per day.
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Iridium flares are rarer than meteors......:thinking:.....if it is one then I should be happier :woot: cheers Stewart
 
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